Pine Stands as Bioindicators: Justification for Air Toxicity Monitoring in an Industrial Metropolis

Galina Polyakova,Natalia Pashenova,Nadezhda Kudryasheva,Vera Senashova,Natalia Podolyak

doi:10.3390/environments7040028

Abstract

Five permanent sample plots (SPs; 200–250 trees per plot) were established in middle-aged high-grade suburban pine stands near the industrial city of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia. Needle damage, inventory parameters of the stands, and the defense response of the stem phloem were evaluated annually for the years 2002–2019 and attributed to acute or chronic toxic exposures (creeping fire or industrial pollutants, respectively). The results form a basis for using trees as bioindicators. A newly elaborated stem lesion test was formed from a hypothesis on the upward sugar transport for the regeneration of an injured crown, based on Eschrich’s model of bidirectional sugar transport in the phloem. The formation of a phloem lesion was induced by inoculation of the stem with a mycelial extract of the ophiostomatoid fungus Ceratocystis laricicola. The lesion length and its shift relative to the inoculation hole were measured. An increase in the length of needles at early stages of stand weakening by pollutants was found to correspond to the hormesis model (Selye’s adaptation syndrome). A possibility of assessing the chronology of pollutant toxicity and the duration of the recovery period after creeping fire was shown.

Highlights

The diagnosis of early-stage ecosystem damage is important task from the perspective of preventive measures against toxic impacts
The present paper considers needle damage, inventory parameters, and a defense response of the stem phloem in pine stands as bioindicator parameters
2002–2019 in middle-aged high-grade suburban pine stands near the industrial city of Krasnoyarsk, Siberia, Russia

Summary

Introduction

The diagnosis of early-stage ecosystem damage is important task from the perspective of preventive measures against toxic impacts. The term ‘toxicity’ is defined as an ability of substances to suppress the physiological functions of an organism. Toxins may cause necrosis and death [1]. Air toxicity is assessed by chemical and biological tests. A chemical assay alone is not sufficient in toxicity evaluation for complex organisms due to: (1) non-additivity of pollutant effects and (2) the possible presence of unknown toxic compounds. Chemical analysis of air pollutants does not take into consideration previous toxic exposures and the accumulation of toxicants in soils and water

Methods

Results

Conclusion